There's much debate about the origins of Mahjong - a popular Chinese game of tiles.
Some mahjong enthusiasts believe that their game was invented by Confucius around 500 B.C.
Others maintain that mahjong has started in mid-19th century Shanghai.

Worldwide popularity of Mahjon today, however, is indisputable:
Mahjong has transformed from a local game into a fascinanting worldwide phenomenon spreading like wildfire in Asia, Europe and Americas.
Also see Mahjong Superstitions.

Mahjong is a Chinese game of skill, strategy and calculation.
Mahjong is similar to gin rummy: the goal in mahjong is to build sets of combinations and achieve the highest point values.
Each mahjong player picks and discards tiles until a full set of combinations is build.